Matthew Introduction

The body of Christ today has a verse mentality if we could put it that way. Our theology, our knowledge of God is restricted to knowing verses but so often those verses are not seen woven into the entire story. What we get is a generation that has a heap of verses that form the foundation of our belief but because they’re not seen in the context of the entire story we risk getting a confusing picture of God’s Word at best and downright error at worst.

This is how the charlatan and the false preachers that are rampant today can have their followings of millions of people because those followers have little or no real understanding of God’s Word. If they did these false preachers would be bankrupted.

Believe me friends I know this to be true because my early Christian life was just like that, tossed about by every wind of doctrine. We must see how the Gospel of Mathew is so tightly linked to the Book of Genesis and to the Old Testament as a whole in order to have that lightbulb of understanding flash on in our minds. And this is true of every one of the 66 books of the Bible.

In coming to the first book of the New Testament from the first book of the Old Testament we need to be aware that between these books there’s a gap of 400 years where God is silent, at least as far as the written Word of God’s concerned.

Then one day that silence was broken when a priest named Zaccarius was praying at the alter in Jerusalem and the Angel of the Lord interrupted him and announced the coming of John the Baptist who would be the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Matthew will let us see how important that event was.

Now although there was no scripture written during this 400 year so called silent period, a lot happened.

In some respects, this 400 year period was the most action packed period in history for these people of Israel who had gone through so much. It was both a terrific time and a tragic time.

A brief understanding of this period will make it a lot easier to see the New Testament of the Bible in its correct context. In other words, we’ll be able to better understand the political and social climate of the time the Gospels and the epistles were written.

World history went through massive changes in this period. The condition of Judah was radically transformed. A new culture, different institutions, and unfamiliar organisations rose up in this period and they appear in the New Testament.

The Old Testament closed with the Medio-Persian Empire being the dominant political power of the day and Egypt was still a power to be reckoned with in world politics. During this period between the Testaments, both faded from the scene as powerful nations.

World power shifted from the East to the West, from Asia to Europe, and from the Medio-Persian empire to Greece.

However, when the New Testament opens, a new power, Rome, is the world ruler.

Now we don’t want to bore you but some of these historical incidents are things we need to know so let’s look at some dates that’ll show the rapid sequence of the major events in this time period. It’ll give us a bit of a Birdseye view of this transition period between the Testaments.

 

If we go back to 480 BC Xerxes, the Persian, was victorious against the Greeks at Thermopylae, but he was defeated at the battle of Salamis. It was actually a storm that defeated him, and this was the last bid of the East for world dominion.

Then in 333 B.C. from out of the west came the male goat that Daniel records in Daniel 8. This was Alexander the Great, the goat with the great horn of Daniel’s prophecy who led the united Greek forces to victory over the Persians at Issus.

Then in 332 B.C. Alexander the Great visited Jerusalem. He was shown the prophecy of Daniel which spoke of him and because of his utter amazement at seeing himself written about centuries before he was born, he spared Jerusalem, which was probably one of the few cities that he ever spared.

And then, in 323 B.C. Alexander died over in Persia. He apparently intended to move the seat of world power there. After his death the world empire of both East and West was divided among Alexander’s four generals.

Then in 320 B.C. Judea was annexed to Egypt by Ptolemy Soter.

In 312 B.C. Seleucus, who was one of those four Generals of Alexander the Great, founded the kingdom of the Selucidae, which is Syria, and he attempted to take over Judea. Judea became the battleground between Syria and Egypt and became a buffer state between the two. It endured the constant attacks backward and forward between Egypt and Syria.

In 203 B.C. Antiochus the Great took Jerusalem, and Judea passed under the influence of Syria.

And then in 170 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes took Jerusalem and defiled the temple. He’s mentioned in Daniel 8 verse 9 as the little horn. He’s been called the “Nero of Jewish history.”

And then in 166 B.C. Mattathias, the priest of Judea, raised a revolt against Syria. This is the beginning of the Maccabean period. The Jews have never suffered more than during this era, and they were never more heroic than in this interval. Judas Maccabaeus, also known as “the hammer,” was the leader who organized the revolt.

Then in 63 B.C. Pompey, the Roman, took Jerusalem, and the people passed under the rulership of this new world power, where they were at the time of the birth of Jesus and all the way through the New Testament period.

In 40 B.C. The Roman Senate appointed Herod to be King of Judea and there’s never been a man or a family more brutal or more wicked and evil than this lot.

37 B.C. brings us to when Herod took Jerusalem and slew Antigonus, the last of the Maccabean king-priests.

In 31 B.C. Caesar Augustus became emperor of Rome, and 19 B.C. was when the rebuilding of the Herodian temple, Herod’s temple, was begun. It was never completed, and construction was still going on when Jesus was born.

Then in 4 B.C. The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

These experiences of the nation of Judea during this time between testaments affected its internal life, and a radical change took place. After the Babylonian captivity, the Jews turned from idolatry to a frantic striving for legal holiness. That is, they attempted to follow the Law of Moses to the letter. The Law became an idol to them. We’re not just talking about the 10 commandments but the law that included the entire Torah, or the first five books of the Old Testament as written by Moses.

In other words, they knew the “does and don’ts” but they didn’t know the author, God Himself.

The classic Hebrew language gave way to the Aramaic language in their everyday speech, but the Hebrew language was kept for their synagogues. The synagogue, which seemed to have come in right after the Babylonian captivity between 597 BC and 538 BC and became the center of their life in Judea and everywhere else they went into the world.

Many different parties and sects appeared among the nation. In Judea there were several very noticeable ones. They were:

Firstly, the Pharisees — The Pharisees were the dominant party, and they arose to defend the Jewish way of life against all foreign influences. They were strict legalists who believed in the keeping of the law of the Old Testament.

They were nationalists in politics, that is that they wanted to restore the kingdom of Judea to the line of David. So, they were a political/religious party who were at the far right of politics.

Then you had the Sadducees — The Sadducees were made up of the wealthy and socially minded who wanted to get rid of tradition. They rejected the supernatural and they were opposed to the Pharisees who accepted the supernatural.

The Sadducees were closely akin to the Greek Epicureans. The Epicureans believed in eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. They were attempting to live the good life and they thought that the way to get over this body of ours was to give it unbridled freedom. Lots of people think that today of course. Do whatever feels good no matter what the consequences. Of course, it didn’t work for them.

The third group are the Scribes — They were a group of professional promoters of the Law or lawyers as we might say. They stemmed from the days of Ezra.

Ezra was one of several leaders called to lead a remnant of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon/Persia. Under

Ezra’s leadership, Israel would learn to rebuild their lives on the Word of God, rediscovering their identity in God’s promises, God’s law, and stories of God’s goodness and faithfulness. However, by this time in history that we’re talking about now, they’d become “hair-splitters” and were more concerned with the “letter of the law” than with the “spirit of the law.” When Herod called in the scribes and asked them where Jesus was born, they knew all the prophecies word for word, but they knew it from head knowledge only. The Word of God wasn’t in their hearts.

Then there was the Herodians — The Herodians were a political party who wanted to keep the family of Herod on the throne for their own personal benefit. Herod was a sort of a puppet king of Judea under the rule of the Roman empire. The Herodians were very active in the days of Jesus’s ministry here on earth.

There were great advances in literature during this period in spite of the fact that there was no revelation from God.

The Old Testament was translated into Greek in Alexandria in Egypt during the period 285-247 B.C. It was made by six members from each of the 12 tribes of Israel and that’s how this translation got its name “Septuagint,” meaning seventy.

The Apocrypha of the Old Testament was written in this era. These are 14 books that bear no marks at all of God’s inspiration. They are: 1 and 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, 2 Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Song of the Three Holy Children, History of Susannah, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasses, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. There are two books that bear the names of two characters of the Old Testament, but there’s no evidence that these two were the writers. These two books are the Psalter of Solomon and the Book of Enoch.

Although these 400 years make up a period marked by the silence of God, it’s evident that God was preparing the world for the coming of Christ. The Jewish people, the Greek civilization, the Roman Empire, and the seething multitudes of the Orient were all being prepared for the coming of a Saviour. These events produced the scene the great apostle Paul labelled “the fulness of time.”

The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are directed to the four major groups of that day.

The Gospel of Mathew was written for the nation Israel. It was written in Hebrew at first and it was written mainly for the religious man.

The Gospel of Mark was directed to the Roman. He was the man of action. He believed that government and law and order was the way to control the world and of course many people feel that’s the way it should be done today. Well, of course there must be law and order but the Romans learned that you couldn’t rule the world through the power of human government alone. The world needed to hear about One Who also believed in law and order but, additionally, He believed in the forgiveness of sins and the grace and mercy of God and that was none other than our Lord Jesus as He was presented in Mark.

The Gospel of Luke was written to the Greek, to the thinking man and of course we’ll see that when we get to it.

The Gospel of John was written to believers but also the Orient and its millions who were crying out for deliverance and who’re still crying out today for a deliverer.

The religious man needs Christ and not religion, the man of power such as the Roman needs a Saviour who has power to save him and the thinking man needs One who can meet all of his mental and spiritual needs and certainly that great Orient with the wretched man needs to know about a Saviour who not only saves him but can build him up and bring him to a place where he can live for God.

That gives us a bird’s eye view of the Gospels.

Now let’s get back to the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew was written by a publican, and he was a person who the Lord Jesus had put his hand on, and he became a follower, an apostle. He wrote in Hebrew as is confirmed by historians and church fathers. He wrote in Hebrew for the nation of Israel who were of course religious people and we’ve already seen that.

God had prepared this whole nation for the coming of Christ into the world. Salvation is of the Jews, Jesus said. In fact, God prepared the Redeemer Christ, The Messiah who would pay for the sins of the world to come from this nation.

This book is remarkable because it swings back into the Old Testament and gathers up more Old Testament prophecies than any other book. Of course, you’d expect this because it’s revealing our Saviour Jesus Christ who was foretold from ancient times.

It also moves further into the New Testament than any other Gospel moves. For instance, no other Gospel writer that is Mark, Luke or John mentions the Church by name, but Matthew does. He’s the one who gives the Word of the Lord on this in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18 when he says to the apostle Peter,

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 

Famous sceptics have even been known to comment that this Gospel is the most important book in Christianity, some even say the most important book that’s ever been written.

So, this converted publican, Matthew, was the choice of the Holy Spirit to give this Gospel primarily to these people, Israel.

This Gospel presents the program of God.

The Kingdom of Heaven is an expression that’s unique to this Gospel. It occurs 32 times and the word Kingdom by itself occurs 50 times.

My friends, a correct interpretation of the meaning of this term, The Kingdom of Heaven is absolutely vital to understanding this Gospel and also the whole Bible.

Now, we really need to be perfectly clear on one vital thing, The Kingdom and the Church are NOT the same.

If we don’t see that a lot of confusion will surround the Bible.

The Church is IN the Kingdom, but the Church is NOT the Kingdom.

It’s just like Brisbane is in Queensland Australia but Brisbane is NOT Queensland Australia.

Queensland is NOT Australia, but Queensland is IN Australia, in fact it’s only one 7th of Australia.

Same with the Church. The Church is in the Kingdom but it’s not the kingdom.

The Kingdom of Heaven simply stated is the reign of the heavens over the earth. Many theologians and Bible scholars have put a confusing veil over this expression, The Kingdom of Heaven and all that’s succeeded in doing is to make what’s very simple complicated.

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is the reign of the heavens over the earth.

That’s the great theme of this Gospel of Matthew. The One Who’s going to establish that Kingdom on the earth is the Lord Jesus, and that Kingdom is all important.

The three major discourses, or speeches if you like, in the Gospel of Matthew all concern the Kingdom.

You have the so called sermon on the mount which is the law of the Kingdom and it’s probably only a partial list.

Then we have the Mystery Parables in Matthew 13 that concern the Kingdom. The Lord said the Kingdom is like a Sower, and the Kingdom is like a mustard seed and so on.

And then we have the great Olivet discourse which looks forward to the establishment of the Kingdom here on this earth. This is so important for us to see.

We’re not going to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven today because we don’t have time but in this Gospel we can see different divisions.

The outline of the Gospel of Matthew is “Behold Your King”. Matthew presents the Lord Jesus Christ as the King. J Vernon McGee gives this outline so well.

In Chapters 1, 2 we see the Person of the King.

In Chapters 3:1 — 4:16 we see the Preparation of the King.

In Chapters 4:17 — 9:35 we see the Propaganda of the King,

In Chapters 9:36 — 16:20 there is the Program of the King,

Chapters 16:21 — 27:66 show us the Passion of the King,

And Chapter 28 displays the Power of the King.

So the divisions are all of the King, Jesus, and they show us His Person, His Preparation, His Propaganda, or His announcements if you like, His Program, His Passion and His Power.

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew there’s a movement between the subjects and we should learn to think our way through the entire Gospel from the first chapter through to the twenty-eighth chapter and see it as an integrated message and not as a bunch of disjointed stories.

What I mean here is to view it as a whole story as if you were looking at a history book of someone’s life, say a great grandparent. We’d see the whole story from their birth, through the years as a toddler, then up through school to the career they chose. Then to the meeting of their spouse and their marriage, family life, highlights from the dramas and the joys through to retirement and then their death. You see, it’s a complete picture. This is how we’d get to know to really know them.

We simply must know Matthew to be able to understand the Bible. We can no more understand the Bible without understanding the Gospel of Matthew than we could write without an alphabet.

Let’s attempt to grasp here how this movement through the book unfolds.

Chapter 1 has the genealogy of Jesus and the record of His virgin birth.

In Chapter 2 we have the visit of the wise men, the family’s escape to Egypt and their return to Nazareth.

Chapter 3 introduces John the Baptist, the forerunner of the King, who announces the kingdom and baptises Jesus, who is the King.

Chapter 4 shows us the testing of the King in the wilderness; the beginning of his public ministry at Capernaum; and the call of the disciples.

In chapters 5, 6 and 7 we have the Sermon on the Mount.

In chapter 8 are six miracles of the King that demonstrate the enforcement of the Sermon on the Mount.

Chapter 9  Shows the Lord performing six more miracles, calling Matthew, and contending with the Pharisees.

In chapter 10 Jesus commissions the twelve apostles to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the nation Israel.

In chapter 11 Jesus is quizzed by the disciples of John the Baptist, he rejects unrepentant cities and issues a new invitation to individuals.

Chapter 12 Shows the conflict and the final break between Jesus and the religious rulers.

In Chapter 13 we have the Mystery parables of the kingdom of heaven.

Chapter 14 is where John the Baptist is beheaded, Jesus feeds the 5,000, sends his disciples into a storm at sea and walks to them on the water.

In the 15^th chapter, Jesus denounces the Scribes and Pharisees, heals the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman and multitudes of others and feeds 4,000 people.

Chapter 16 shows the conflict with the Pharisees and the Sadducees, a confession of faith from the disciples with Peter becoming their spokesman. Jesus first confronts them with the idea of the church, His death and resurrection.

In chapter 17, we have the transfiguration, the demon-possessed boy and the temple tax money provided by a miracle.

Chapter 18 Jesus likens those who will see the Kingdom to a little child, we see the parable of the lost sheep, the conduct in the coming church and the forgiveness parable.

Chapter 19 gives God’s standard for marriage and divorce; little children are blessed, we meet the rich young ruler and we see the apostles’ position in the coming kingdom.

Chapter 20 gives us the Parable of the laborers in the vineyard, Jesus makes the 4th and 5th announcements of His approaching death, the mother of James and John requests places of honour for James and John in the kingdom and Jesus restores the sight of two men.

Chapter 21 The King offers Himself publicly and finally to the nation, He cleanses the temple, curses the fig tree, condemns the religious rulers with the parables of two sons and householder.

In chapter 22 we have the Parable of the marriage feast for the king’s son, Jesus answers and silences the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees.

In chapter 23 Jesus warns against and pronounces woes upon the Scribes and Pharisees, and He weeps over Jerusalem.

Chapters 24 and 25 gives us the Olivet Discourse: Jesus answers questions about signs of the end of the age and signs of His coming, we see the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of eight talents and the judgment of the sheep and goat nations.

In chapter 26 Jesus is plotted against, He’s anointed by Mary of Bethany, He’s sold out by Judas Iscariot, He observes the last Passover and the first Lord’s Supper, He agonises in the Garden of Gethsemane and is arrested and tried in illegal trials by the religious rulers and then disowned by Peter.

Chapter 27 takes us through the trial, death, and burial of the King.

And chapter 28 gives us the Resurrection of the King and His great commission.

In the next episode we’re going to open the Gospel itself where we’ll start at the genealogy of our Lord and it’s a vital puzzle piece that needs to put in place in order for us to understand this wonderful Gospel and this incredible collection of 66 books we call the Bible.

Until then my friends may the Lord comfort you and give you surety that He’s with you always.